Cardiomyopathy

Cardiomyopathy is a term that refers to any heart condition that weakens and enlarges the heart muscle. Cardiomyopathy makes it harder for your heart to pump blood to the rest of your body. It can lead to heart failure.

At Sentara, our goal is to treat your heart condition to relieve the symptoms and prevent future heart problems. We treat a wide range of cardiomyopathy, including:

Congenital heart disease, a heart condition or defect you are born with.

Septal defects. There are two types of septal defects:

A hole in the septum between the heart’s two upper chambers, atrial septal defect, or ASD

A hole in the septum between the heart’s two lower chambers, ventricular septal defect, or VSD

Heart valve disease, also called valvular heart disease, characterized by damage to or a defect in one of your heart valves. We offer specialized treatment for heart valve disease.

Symptoms

In the early stages, you may not experience any symptoms. As cardiomyopathy progresses, however, you will probably start to experience them. Symptoms of cardiomyopathy include:

We will begin by asking you about your symptoms and medical and family history. Then we will perform a thorough physical examination. If your doctor suspects cardiomyopathy, he or she will probably order a number of diagnostic tests, including: